Leroy Smith
Leroy Smith is an American martial artist who will make his appearance in Tekken 7 as a DLC character included in the third season pass. He is the first new character to appear as a DLC character and was announced alongside Zafina during the EVO 2019 finals. Leroy was made available on December 10, 2019. Biography Appearance He has white dreads similar to Eddy but with gold jewelry on some of the dreads. Much like Jinpachi, and Heihachi (since Tekken 3), Leroy remains muscular at his age. He has a mustache and beard similar to Marduk. He appears to be blind from his right eye. He has a dragon tattoo on his right arm and also tattoos of rings on his thumbs. Personality A humble and wise old man, Leroy is also insightful. After witnessing the death of his family and the ruin of his hometown, he trained in Wing Chun to bring down crime and restore order. He blames Heihachi Mishima, whose many actions brought misery to him and others, for the destruction of his family and beloved hometown. His only family is his dog Sugar, whom at times acts as his partner in battle. He is prone to mock his opponents for losing without putting up a proper fight. Outfits He wears a white top and red bottom combo. The top is decorated with two golden dragons in the front, and 戒 mark on the back. His shoes are golden, and with a leopard print. He also wears a large golden medallion. He wears sunglasses and has a cane with brass knuckles for a handle. In the reveal trailer he reveals to have two outfits; It was his formal attire but has a Chinese button shirt beneath it and the other is his fighting attire to reveal many black tattoos on his chest and back which was concealed on his outfits. Story ''Tekken 7'' Version 1: 50 years ago, a young boy was caught up in a large scale gang conflict in his hometown in New York City in the United States where he loses his family and his home. After missing for decades, Leroy returns to New York City, now as a seasoned master of martial arts and he's out for revenge. Version 2: About half a century ago, New York was midst a dark period where gangsters were rampant in the tens of thousands. Bribes to the police and the political world were rampant, no one could stop the gangs' tyranny, and people had to be fully subservient to the gangs. As the gangs expanded their control of the city, the conflict between them escalated, eventually leading to a massive battle involving all the gangs. The streets of New York were instantly turned into a battlefield of hell, fueled by explosions and fire, as bullets flew everywhere, indiscriminately killing anyone regardless of age or gender. The family of Leroy Smith, then a boy, was also involved in a fierce shootout and all were killed. Leroy, too, is seriously injured and falls into a river, and gets washed away into the sea, but luckily is picked up by a merchant ship and survives. In his fading consciousness, he deeply felt his helplessness and a deep desire for revenge against the gangs. Leaving America, Leroy traveled around the world as a trader, and in Hong Kong he encountered a martial art called Wing Chun. Leroy, fascinated by its one-on-one strategy of defense and neutralizing the opponent, settled down in Hong Kong to learn the martial art. And many months have passed... Half a century after what later became known as the Big Apple War (New York incident), New York was still dominated by gangsters who had survived, although their power had diminished. Knowing this, Leroy decides to return to New York to take revenge against the gangs and liberate the city. Fueled by his anger, Leroy single-handedly attacks and destroys them with the strength of a fierce demon. During this time, he learns from one of the gang leaders that the current Mishima Zaibatsu was behind the large-scale rivalry of half a century ago. Surprised at the fact that a large company currently engaged in the war that has divided the world has been behind it for such a long time, Leroy believes it is the root of all evil and decides to join The King of Iron Fist Tournament hosted by the company. Gameplay and Fighting Style Leroy demonstrates his fighting moves when he took down both Lei Wulong and Marshall Law with several punches and heavy blows. He also showed a flurry of punches and a one-inch punch on Feng Wei, similar to the Wing Chun fighting style. Although this move is later revealed to be his Rage Art. Like Kazumi Mishima and Devil Kazumi who can summon her pet tiger or her white tiger, Leroy also summons his pet female pit bull named Sugar where it can attacks his opponent depending on to follow her master's orders or not. Also, Leroy can also use his cane as a weapon to beat down his opponents as his special attacks. Character Relationships *Sugar - His pet pit-bull. *Heihachi Mishima - He sees Heihachi as the source of the endless war between Mishima clansmen (including Jin Kazama), and most people across the world like Leroy got involved indirectly. Trivia *Leroy is the very first Wing Chun fighter to be featured in a Japanese-made fighting game. *Leroy's style is heavily inspired by Ip Man, a Wing Chun master. *Leroy is the first new original character to be added via DLC in the game or the series overall, followed by Fahkumram. *Leroy's backstory is similar to Bruce Irvin, another African American male who loses his family young as a result of criminal activity and gets driven into martial arts as a result. *In Leroy's reveal trailer, he is seen defeating Feng Wei and then looking up to the sky during a thunderstorm, reminiscent of how Feng Wei does the same while standing over his defeated master in the Tekken 5 opening movie. *Leroy is considered one of the weapon users (his cane), and the only known two animal summoner type character aside (Devil) Kazumi Mishima, not counting Unknown (in her debut appearance). *Though he is noted to be able to summon Sugar at will, it is noted that there are times when Sugar will refuse to obey orders depending on its mood. *He is the only character who has a move, Master's Lesson, that can be used only once per match, making him unlike the rest of the weapon user characters, who can use their weapons anytime. *Hip-Hop singer, rapper, DJ & producer T-Pain cosplayed as Leroy. *Leroy heavily resembles the Chicago born rapper and producer Lupe Fiasco, who also studies martial arts. Category:Characters